About Sam
About Sam
About Sam
The Moment of Doubt
In 2021, my manager told me I had "the heart" to lead a design team. I wasn't sure I could do it. I'm an introvert who was stepping into leadership for the first time. That weekend, I drove to Joshua Tree National Park—a place I'd fallen in love with years earlier. Standing under those twisted, resilient trees, something clicked.
Growth doesn't have to be linear. Strength doesn't have to look conventional. And the most interesting paths are rarely the straightest ones.
My journey mirrors this: Small town India → Seattle → IBM. QA engineer → Designer → Design leader. Introvert → Manager of teams across three continents.
I bring an engineer's clarity and a designer's humanity to the messy reality of enterprise AI.
Want the full story? Keep reading below
Quick Facts
9 years leading and designing AI/ML at IBM | Specialized in UX for agentic systems, cross-functional design leadership, UX strategy, and 0→1 product launches | iF Design Award 2025 & Red Dot Design Award 2025 winner
Currently seeking: Principal Designer or Design Manager roles at AI-first companies
Based in: Austin, TX | Open to remote
The Journey
The Journey
The Journey
The Roots: Small Town India → The First Question
I grew up in a small town in India where the path was clear: study engineering, get a stable job, follow the script. I did exactly that and earned my Electronics Engineering degree and became a QA engineer.
But something felt incomplete. While testing software, I kept asking: Why does this interface confuse users? Why is this flow so clunky?
I realized I didn't just want to validate the software, I wanted to shape it. I wanted to design experiences that felt intuitive, not just functional.
That tension became my turning point. In 2015, I made a decision that would change everything: I applied to grad school in Seattle, packed a suitcase, and left the predictable path behind.
The Roots: Small Town India → The First Question
I grew up in a small town in India where the path was clear: study engineering, get a stable job, follow the script. I did exactly that and earned my Electronics Engineering degree and became a QA engineer.
But something felt incomplete. While testing software, I kept asking: Why does this interface confuse users? Why is this flow so clunky?
I realized I didn't just want to validate the software, I wanted to shape it. I wanted to design experiences that felt intuitive, not just functional.
That tension became my turning point. In 2015, I made a decision that would change everything: I applied to grad school in Seattle, packed a suitcase, and left the predictable path behind.
The Roots: Small Town India → The First Question
I grew up in a small town in India where the path was clear: study engineering, get a stable job, follow the script. I did exactly that and earned my Electronics Engineering degree and became a QA engineer.
But something felt incomplete. While testing software, I kept asking: Why does this interface confuse users? Why is this flow so clunky?
I realized I didn't just want to validate the software, I wanted to shape it. I wanted to design experiences that felt intuitive, not just functional.
That tension became my turning point. In 2015, I made a decision that would change everything: I applied to grad school in Seattle, packed a suitcase, and left the predictable path behind.
The Pivot: Seattle → Starting Over → Earning My Place
Moving to Seattle for my Master's in UX at the University of Washington meant starting from zero. No portfolio. No network. No safety net.
I worked in food hospitality—backbreaking early shifts, late nights, juggling work and coursework. But I met genuine people there, all hustling. I won three awards: Most Dependable, Life Saver, Award of Excellence. Not design awards, but proof I could show up, work hard, and earn trust.
Meanwhile, I was falling in love with human-centered design in my classes and interning at IBM, getting my first taste of enterprise AI systems.
While my classmates had polished portfolios, I had something else: an engineer's rigor, an immigrant's work ethic, and the grit that comes from proving you belong when nobody expects you to.
That became my foundation. Go Huskies.
The Pivot: Seattle → Starting Over → Earning My Place
Moving to Seattle for my Master's in UX at the University of Washington meant starting from zero. No portfolio. No network. No safety net.
I worked in food hospitality—backbreaking early shifts, late nights, juggling work and coursework. But I met genuine people there, all hustling. I won three awards: Most Dependable, Life Saver, Award of Excellence. Not design awards, but proof I could show up, work hard, and earn trust.
Meanwhile, I was falling in love with human-centered design in my classes and interning at IBM, getting my first taste of enterprise AI systems.
While my classmates had polished portfolios, I had something else: an engineer's rigor, an immigrant's work ethic, and the grit that comes from proving you belong when nobody expects you to.
That became my foundation. Go Huskies.
The Pivot: Seattle → Starting Over → Earning My Place
Moving to Seattle for my Master's in UX at the University of Washington meant starting from zero. No portfolio. No network. No safety net.
I worked in food hospitality—backbreaking early shifts, late nights, juggling work and coursework. But I met genuine people there, all hustling. I won three awards: Most Dependable, Life Saver, Award of Excellence. Not design awards, but proof I could show up, work hard, and earn trust.
Meanwhile, I was falling in love with human-centered design in my classes and interning at IBM, getting my first taste of enterprise AI systems.
While my classmates had polished portfolios, I had something else: an engineer's rigor, an immigrant's work ethic, and the grit that comes from proving you belong when nobody expects you to.
That became my foundation. Go Huskies.
The Designer: IBM → Building Products That Serve Millions
After graduating from UW, I joined IBM as a designer. Over five years as an IC, I designed AI systems serving millions: Watson Assistant (conversational AI), Watson Discovery (NLP-powered search), and eventually watsonx Orchestrate (no-code AI agent builder).
This was 2016-2021—long before "agentic AI" became a buzzword. I was designing conversational flows, prompt orchestration, and AI-human handoffs when most companies were still figuring out chatbots.
I learned to design for ambiguity, make enterprise complexity feel intuitive, and ship products that work at scale. I learned to navigate matrix organizations, partner with engineering and product teams across continents, and build consensus when stakeholders disagreed.
Those years gave me my craft: systems thinking from engineering, empathy from design, cross-functional collaboration from necessity, and the resilience that comes from shipping real, messy, high-impact products.
The Designer: IBM → Building Products That Serve Millions
After graduating from UW, I joined IBM as a designer. Over five years as an IC, I designed AI systems serving millions: Watson Assistant (conversational AI), Watson Discovery (NLP-powered search), and eventually watsonx Orchestrate (no-code AI agent builder).
This was 2016-2021—long before "agentic AI" became a buzzword. I was designing conversational flows, prompt orchestration, and AI-human handoffs when most companies were still figuring out chatbots.
I learned to design for ambiguity, make enterprise complexity feel intuitive, and ship products that work at scale. I learned to navigate matrix organizations, partner with engineering and product teams across continents, and build consensus when stakeholders disagreed.
Those years gave me my craft: systems thinking from engineering, empathy from design, cross-functional collaboration from necessity, and the resilience that comes from shipping real, messy, high-impact products.
The Designer: IBM → Building Products That Serve Millions
After graduating from UW, I joined IBM as a designer. Over five years as an IC, I designed AI systems serving millions: Watson Assistant (conversational AI), Watson Discovery (NLP-powered search), and eventually watsonx Orchestrate (no-code AI agent builder).
This was 2016-2021—long before "agentic AI" became a buzzword. I was designing conversational flows, prompt orchestration, and AI-human handoffs when most companies were still figuring out chatbots.
I learned to design for ambiguity, make enterprise complexity feel intuitive, and ship products that work at scale. I learned to navigate matrix organizations, partner with engineering and product teams across continents, and build consensus when stakeholders disagreed.
Those years gave me my craft: systems thinking from engineering, empathy from design, cross-functional collaboration from necessity, and the resilience that comes from shipping real, messy, high-impact products.
2021 → Becoming a Leader (Despite My Doubts)
In 2021, I stepped into design leadership—quietly, skeptically, but fully.
My manager said I had "the heart" to lead. I wasn't convinced. I'm an introvert stepping into leadership for the first time. Could someone who questioned their own belonging create belonging for others?
That weekend at Joshua Tree gave me clarity: my empathy, my non-traditional path—those weren't weaknesses. They were strengths.
I built teams across the US, India, and Europe. But I didn't stop designing. I led by doing—designing key flows in watsonx Orchestrate alongside my team while also shaping product strategy, influencing roadmaps, and advocating for design at the executive level.
I focused on clarity over chaos, collaboration over competition, belonging over fitting in.
Our work won iF Design and Red Dot awards in 2025.
2021 → Becoming a Leader (Despite My Doubts)
In 2021, I stepped into design leadership—quietly, skeptically, but fully.
My manager said I had "the heart" to lead. I wasn't convinced. I'm an introvert stepping into leadership for the first time. Could someone who questioned their own belonging create belonging for others?
That weekend at Joshua Tree gave me clarity: my empathy, my non-traditional path—those weren't weaknesses. They were strengths.
I built teams across the US, India, and Europe. But I didn't stop designing. I led by doing—designing key flows in watsonx Orchestrate alongside my team while also shaping product strategy, influencing roadmaps, and advocating for design at the executive level.
I focused on clarity over chaos, collaboration over competition, belonging over fitting in.
Our work won iF Design and Red Dot awards in 2025.
2021 → Becoming a Leader (Despite My Doubts)
In 2021, I stepped into design leadership—quietly, skeptically, but fully.
My manager said I had "the heart" to lead. I wasn't convinced. I'm an introvert stepping into leadership for the first time. Could someone who questioned their own belonging create belonging for others?
That weekend at Joshua Tree gave me clarity: my empathy, my non-traditional path—those weren't weaknesses. They were strengths.
I built teams across the US, India, and Europe. But I didn't stop designing. I led by doing—designing key flows in watsonx Orchestrate alongside my team while also shaping product strategy, influencing roadmaps, and advocating for design at the executive level.
I focused on clarity over chaos, collaboration over competition, belonging over fitting in.
Our work won iF Design and Red Dot awards in 2025.
The Ecosystem That Grounds Me
Outside work, I'm shaped by the life I've built with my wife—an India-China cross-cultural marriage that spans three countries, two families, and countless beautiful complications. We're building a life in Austin with our two cats, far from where either of us started.
Joshua Tree has become our place and a reminder that resilience isn't about being unbreakable. It's about bending, adapting, growing your roots, and still reaching toward the light.
These things keep me grounded, curious, and human—qualities I bring into my work every day.
The Ecosystem That Grounds Me
Outside work, I'm shaped by the life I've built with my wife—an India-China cross-cultural marriage that spans three countries, two families, and countless beautiful complications. We're building a life in Austin with our two cats, far from where either of us started.
Joshua Tree has become our place and a reminder that resilience isn't about being unbreakable. It's about bending, adapting, growing your roots, and still reaching toward the light.
These things keep me grounded, curious, and human—qualities I bring into my work every day.
The Ecosystem That Grounds Me
Outside work, I'm shaped by the life I've built with my wife—an India-China cross-cultural marriage that spans three countries, two families, and countless beautiful complications. We're building a life in Austin with our two cats, far from where either of us started.
Joshua Tree has become our place and a reminder that resilience isn't about being unbreakable. It's about bending, adapting, growing your roots, and still reaching toward the light.
These things keep me grounded, curious, and human—qualities I bring into my work every day.
Beyond Work
When not designing AI systems, I'm capturing light, chasing roads, and geeking out over gadgets and games.
Beyond Work
When not designing AI systems, I'm capturing light, chasing roads, and geeking out over gadgets and games.
Beyond Work
When not designing AI systems, I'm capturing light, chasing roads, and geeking out over gadgets and games.
Want to reach me directly?
Email me at hello@sampattnaik.com or connect on LinkedIn
Want to reach me directly?
Email me at hello@sampattnaik.com or connect on LinkedIn
Working Remotely 👨🏻💻
Austin
Made with a whole lotta ❤️, 🌮, ☕️ and, a lil help from a friend named Claude 🦾
Want to reach me directly?
Email me at hello@sampattnaik.com or connect on LinkedIn